Fauxlager

As a homebrewer, there are few things more discouraging than opening your beer and not getting the snap of carbonation leaving the bottle.

Here’s the story: I was trying for something that was a lager (light, easy to drink) without having to go through the trials of making a lager (refrigeration, which I don’t have; time, which I don’t care to spend) so when I came across the idea of using a California Common yeast as a substitute for lager yeast, I thought: awesome!

What I read suggested giving the beer a bit longer to drop out so that I really got the clarity of a lager. Unfortunately, I think I let the beer go for too long. The yeast pooped out and didn’t come back to readily carbonate the beer. As a result, the finish is a little too sweet, there’s no crispness on the tongue and while I can’t sense any really off flavors in this beer, I can’t call it a success by any means.

Knowing that I may have let it go too long means that perhaps I can shorten up my process a bit and make a better beer. Next time. Recipe follows: